Latest Script Deals

Stone Village Pictures has optioned the rights to James Ellroy's recently published collection of stories Destination: Morgue! L.A. Tales. Ellroy will adapt. (He's currently working on The Man Who Kept Secrets, a biopic about Hollywood power broker and Frank Sinatra lawyer Sydney Korshak.)

Columbia has bought Barry L. Levy's spec script "Vantage Point" for mid-six figures against $1 million for Neal Moritz's Original Film. (The latter number comes into play if the film is actually made.) This "Rashomon"-style thriller depicts the attempted assassination of the president told from five different points of view.

Gary Hardwick gets the nod from Sony to adapt his own novel The Executioner's Game for Jamie Foxx to star. (Just got an ARC of this the other day. Looks like it might be good.) The story is about a wet work operative assigned to track down and eliminate his former mentor, who has turned rogue.

Warner Bros. picked up Gregory David Roberts's first novel Shantaram for a cool 2 mill. Johnny Depp is attached to star. Story is about an Australian convict who escapes from prison and makes his way to the underworld of Bombay.

Stevie Long is on-board to write "Espionage for Dummies" for John Woo to direct. The film centers on a high school vice principal who is suddenly thrust into the world of secret agents when he's mistaken for a top American spy. In order to stay alive and save the world, he must rely on his copy of "Espionage for Dummies."

First-time novelist Susanna Clarke has sold her book Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell in a preemptive buy to New Line Cinema for high-six figures against seven figures.